This afternoon, an email purportedly from the B.D.F. Commandant was being circulated among soldiers telling them anyone who does not take the vaccine by August first would be placed on immediate charge. The email goes on to say that persons who refuse to get vaccinated will be terminated from duty. This has turned out to […]
On Friday, the government announced a lockdown of three southern villages: Midway, Conejo and Barranco in Toledo. So what is life like in these areas right now with the travel ban and curfew in place for the next two weeks? Today, we spoke with Chairman Marco Ico of Midway. He supports the lockdown and is […]
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign continues countrywide. Today in Placencia, the N.H.I. team was on hand giving jabs of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people gathered at the Placencia basketball court. Doctor Rayford Rancharand is part of the Ministry of Health team based in Independence, which serves Independence, Seine Bight and many other southern communities. He told […]
A similar vaccination drive has been carried out in Camalote where dozens of residents from that community, as well as other neighboring villages in Cayo District, came out to get their COVID jabs on Monday. According to Chairman Derrick Parham, the event was held in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the […]
A recent prison sentence of a father of two young children has drawn fire on social media. On Friday, Ramiro de la Rosa from Duck Run Two was sentenced to three years in prison after police found a gun inside a house his father had occupied until his recent death. Although the gun was licensed […]
Last week, amateur phone video captured the scene as police officers were beating up on a man, now identified as David Smalls. The video received condemnation from the public as two police officers hit the already restrained man and stomped him in the head. Today, the Human Rights Commission of Belize issued a statement condemning […]
The Communications Director of the Belize Police Department has spoken out against actions of the officers, saying that the Professional Standards Branch of the department is looking into the incident. But the H.R.C.B. says that these violations have become all too common. The Commission says it provides support to the victims of human rights violations […]
The Christian Workers Union is at a critical juncture once again in its negotiations with the Port of Belize Limited. After lengthy discussions over a period of several years, the C.W.U. was finally able to secure a collective bargaining agreement for waterfront workers who are members of the labor organization. The same cannot be said […]
Of equal concern for the Christian Workers Union is a pending move by A.S.R./B.S.I. to transfer its sugar operations from Belize City to the Port of Big Creek. This would mean that the company will instead truck shipments of sugar from Tower Hill to Independence overland as a cost-cutting measure. It also spells the termination […]
The Belmopan City Council, led by Mayor Sharon Palacio, has terminated the services of twenty-five CitCo employees. Those individuals, all members of the Christian Workers Union, were served notice at the end of June. It’s reportedly part of a reengineering exercise being undertaken by the municipal government. However, the C.W.U. charges that City Hall is […]
The government’s recent decision to forge ahead with the decriminalization of small quantities of cannabis and capitalize on cannabis products as a means of generating income and taxes has provoked a mixed reaction. While the National Evangelical Association of Belize continues to bolster its position against legalization amongst its flock, Pastor Louis Wade has been […]
The Belize Family Life Association/ National Health Insurance clinic has launched a project to help diabetics get tested and educated about this disease that affects thousands of Belizeans. The initiative is particularly important right now, since some diabetics have been so afraid of catching COVID-19 they may not have been getting the support they need. […]
Over the past two years, flooding and drought have ravaged vegetable fields in the Valley of Peace. Less than a year ago, the country’s largest cabbage producers lost hundreds of thousands of heads of cabbage to floods leaving them struggling to make ends meet. At the time, the Valley of Peace Farmers Association appealed to […]
The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games are only a few days away and Belizean athlete Shaun Gill will be representing Belize in the one-hundred-meter dash. Today, News Five spoke to Gill, who recently came home after intense training in the U.S. We learnt about his readiness for the competition as he prepares to fly to Tokyo. […]
It was the buzz this weekend as people joined the discussion on the new marijuana businesses being proposed. The churches, by and large, church maintain unwavering positions in the ongoing marijuana discussion, saying “no” to decriminalization and certainly “no” to legalization of possession and trade. But the government of the day has a very different […]
On Friday we told you about the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill that was introduced in the House. The bill seeks to establish licensing, registration and operational requirements for the cultivation, processing, distribution and delivery of cannabis products for adult use in Belize. As a part of its provision it will also seek to expunge […]
COVID numbers are once again spiraling out of control and the Briceño administration is implementing stringent public health measures to stem the spread of the virus in other parts of the country. In the Toledo District, the lockdown of three villages, including Barranco, Midway and Conejo, has come into effect and will remain in place […]
Before it was even tabled in the House of Representatives on Friday, the Eleventh Amendment Bill was controversial. It seeks to provide additional grounds for the disqualification of an individual as a member of the National Assembly. The proposed piece of legislation has been described as “ambiguous” by former Prime Minister Dean Barrow in other […]
The Belize City Branch of the Belize National Teachers Union issued an update to its membership today informing them that the virtual court hearing on the claim filed about the ten percent salary cut is scheduled for July sixteenth. The release also noted that the union will be collaborating with the Ministry of Health to […]
There was a brazen robbery in Belize City when two men held up the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza just before midday today. Reports to News Five are that the men arrived at the establishment in a black SUV, held up several people at gunpoint, stealing over ten thousand dollars in cash, then drove off. […]
There is no evidence to suggest that they are related, but over the weekend, two armed robbers also targeted the Belize Health Care Partners, taking cell phones and an undisclosed amount of cash. Police say it was a crime of opportunity, not necessarily a reflection of hard economic times. So far, they have not made […]
Up to news time tonight, details remain sparse after a body was found this morning on the riverbank in San Ignacio. The deceased was clad only in a shirt. Reports are that his face had been bashed in, but that has not been confirmed by police. What is known is that there were multiple injuries […]
The Belize Police Department is mourning the loss of one their own over the weekend. Corporal Jose Blanco reported for duty to the Caribbean Shores Police Station just after midnight on Sunday morning, but was found dead a few hours later. It is known that he had diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension, but there was […]
And while the department is looking into Corporal Blanco’s death, members of the media asked what efforts are being made by the Belize Police Department to keep officers healthy, like the other security forces. ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Communications Director, Belize Police Department “You touched on Coast Guard, B.D.F., they are not out here patrolling […]
Thirty-eight-year-old Mayflower Street resident Jervis Valencia has not been cooperating with police after he was shot in the jaw in an alley way off Banak Street last week Friday. The person police detained for the shooting was later released. According to ASP Fitzroy Yearwood, Valencia checked himself out of the K.H.M.H. this morning. ASP […]
